The present invention relates to a specially configured masking tape adapted for use in refinish painting and more particularly to such a masking tape adapted to include adhesive coated and adhesive-free lateral portions along its length with the adhesive-free portion of the tape being angled upwardly from a panel to be refinished by spray painting.
The term refinish painting is used herein to include painting of any surface, a portion of which requires refinishing. A previously painted surface may require refinishing because of a paint flaw or due to working or finishing of the surface substrate, for example, a metal or plastic surface.
Refinish painting is commonly employed in the manufacture of vehicles. Such vehicles have numerous surface panels which are painted and which require a high quality finish for appearance. In factories producing such vehicles, it is common to employ refinish painting for relatively large proportions of the panel surfaces or complete panels for the vehicle.
Usually, when refinishing a portion of the surface of such a vehicle or the like, an entire panel has normally been repainted in the prior art to avoid the presence of a linear juncture or seam between the refinish painting surface and an original painted surface on a given panel. Accordingly, excessive quantities of paint are employed for refinish painting relative to the actual amount of surface area which is actually flawed and requires refinishing.
This problem is particularly present in connection with the use of enamel paints which tend to be applied in relatively thick layers at least compared to other types of paints such as lacquers for example. The thickness of a single enamel layer or coat is sufficient to cause a noticeable seam of juncture between a repainted surface portion and the original painted surface.
The problem noted above is particularly severe when enamel paints are being used upon vehicles or the like because of the very large surface areas on all of the vehicles produced by a factory. With refinish paint being applied to entire surface panels, very large quantities of paint are employed for refinishing. With the rapidly increasing raw material costs for paint, and shortage of pigments and related paint materials, refinish painting as conducted in the prior art is a very substantial expense within any given factory or production line or after market.
A method of refinish painting, as contemplated in connection with the masking tape of the present invention, was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,069 issued Dec. 30, 1975 to the above noted inventor, that patent being titled REFINISH PAINTING METHOD and is hereby incorporated by reference.
It is further noted that spray painting is usually employed for such reinforcing operations and it is common practice to mask off those surface portions of a vehicle or the like which are not to be refinished. Normally, the masked surface areas are covered with an original paint surface with which the refinish paint must match and blend. Accordingly, an additional substantial expense in such refinish painting operation lies in the time and labor required for the application of masking tape and other material over those surface portions which are not to be refinished.